The Seahorses recent history, news and links.
The Seahorses are the first band to arise from the wreckage of the legendary Stone Roses. Guitarist John Squire had built up a great following and been tagged as one of the most talented players of recent years for his work on the two Roses albums, and when he quit the band in March 1996 there was immediate interest in what he would be doing next. He was regarded by many as being the main talent in The Stone Roses, and had a large fanbase waiting eagerly for his next project.
The full story of The Stone Roses steady decline, and news of the other band-members activities can be read on my Stone Roses page.
After leaving the Stone Roses John was quick to announce that he would continue working and had plans to assemble a new band as quickly as possible. He later said "I don't want to be a solo artist. I've always been into the idea of a group".
Before the end of the year he had his new band assembled.
He had almost immediately begun to work with bassist Stuart
Fletcher (21), who he discovered playing in a band called the
Blueflies in a pub in York. It later turned out that Stuart
had only been standing in for the regular player that night.
He later recruited Chris Helme (25) on vocals, who he first heard
busking with an acoustic guitar, again in York. Last came
drummer Andy Watts (27), who, like Reni in the Roses, would
also contribute backing vocals. They
called themselves `Seahorses' but later had to change to
The Seahorses after a short and quiet conflict with a
south London band of the same name.
The Seahorses spent the end of '96 rehearsing together and
soon began working on their first LP with producer Tony
Visconti. Recording and mixing of the record took place in Los
Angleles, chosen for the quality of the mixing desk in the studio.
Some songs were revealed when they played a
gig at the Los Angeles Viper Room. Included in the set were
"Around the Universe", "Blinded by the Sun", "I Want You to Know",
"The Boy in the Picture", "Kill Pussycat Kill", "Love Me and
Leave Me". Singer Chris
Helme played a solo acoustic "Moving On" before the band
finished with "Love is the Law".
"Love is the Law" became The Seahorses debut single, and was
released in the UK on April 28th, backed with the other new songs
"Dreamer" and "Sale of the Century". The single entered the UK
charts at number 3. Chris Helme has turned out to be a talented
songwriter in his own right, the Beatlesque "Dreamer" and a few
songs on the album being his own work.
The album, titled "Do It Yourself" followed on May 27th. It
was met with mixed reviews but was welcomed by fans, entering
the album charts at #2, beaten only by the over-popular Gary Barlow,
whose album was released on the same day. The full tracklisting for
"Do It Yourself" is: "I Want You to
Know", "Blinded By The Sun", "Suicide Drive", "The Boy in the
Picture", "Love is the Law", "Happiness is Eggshaped", "Love me
and Leave Me", "Round the Universe", "1999", "Standing on Your
Head" and "Hello". The material has been described as very
poppy and melodic, but the Hendrix and Zeppelin influences that
showed so clearly on the Stone Roses "Second Coming" is still
evident. The song "Love Me and Leave Me" was co-written by
Liam Gallagher of Oasis, and looks likely to be a future single.
As expected the cover art for the LP was done by John.
The Seahorses played a series of sell-out gigs in the UK at the
end of April/beginning of May.
The second single from "Do it Yourself" is "Blinded by the Sun", written by Chris Helme and backed with Squire's "Kill Pussycat Kill", and Chris' "Movin' On". It was released in the UK on July 14th and entered the charts at number 7.
The third single from the LP was "Love Me and Leave Me". The group ran into problems with the release and had to re-write the opening line in order to secure MTV play in the US. Originally 'Don't believe in Jesus', it is now 'Don't believe in censors'. The record was unchanged and was not censored in Europe.
Andy Watts left The Seahorses in September 1997. Musical differences were given as the reason, though the birth of his child combined with the 'Horses heavy touring schedule may also had something to do with it.
The Seahorses released a brand new single in November '97. Entitled "You Can Talk to Me" it is the first to be written by John Squire and Chris Helme together, and was produced by Youth. The b-sides were also new material, and all of the tracks have a fatter sound than previous material, without being too different musically. The single entered the UK charts at #15, perhaps a little disappointing for new material.
After a long search, an new drummer has finally been appointed to replace Andy Watts.
He is 27 year old Mark Heany from Peterborough, and has previous;y been in the army and
played in rock and jazz bands, as well as doing some tuition. He played in a number of
highly secret gigs before being fully announced as the new member, in which some new
material was played. No new titles were given away except for one song, "City in the Sky".
The band are currently recording their second LP which should be released in September or October
of this year. Writing of the new material has as usual been split between John Squire and Chris
Helme. The Seahorses will be playing the V98 festivals in Leeds and Chelmesford this August.
A performance described as 'pretty bluesy' was given at their T in the Park performance.
More new song titles were revealed as "Tomb Raid", "One in a Million" and "Moth".
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